Podcast # 35 - Obstacles as Opportunities...How a Compassionate MD Thinks | Dr. Heather Tallman Ruhm
The Science of Self-Healing Hosted by Dr. Sharon Stills With Special Guest
Dr. Heather Tallman Ruhm
About Dr. Heather
Known to her patients as Dr. Heather, Dr. Heather Tallman Ruhm is a Medical Doctor and licensed Family Physician dedicated to helping people reach optimal wellness and improve their quality of life. She recognizes that one-size-fits-all medicine does not fit all sizes and approaches each patient as a complex integrated human being (not a collection of separate parts). She thoughtfully considers personal stories, life circumstances, signs and symptoms to create an individualized plan of self-care.
Along with maintaining a part-time private practice at the New Hampshire Health and Wellness Center, Dr. Heather now serves as Medical Director for The Documenting Hope Project, the cornerstone research program of Epidemic Answers, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention and reversal of chronic health and developmental conditions in children. Documenting Hope aims to use the tools of science to illuminate root causes and inspire hope for preventing and reversing childhood health and developmental conditions.
Dr. Heather is a passionate student of the biomedical sciences and received her MD from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine after earning a Master’s in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. She completed her family medicine training in Colorado and Alabama and has since specialized in prevention, restoration, and whole-person medicine (mind-body-spirit-community). She has worked in several integrative clinics, collaborating with holistic doctors and body workers – PhDs, functional doctors, naturopaths, chiropractors, homeopaths, physical therapists, mental health counselors, acupuncturists, Reiki practitioners, massage therapists, and modern dietitians.
In the words of Thomas Edison, Dr. Heather qualifies as one of the “doctors of the future that gives no medicine, but interests [her] patients in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease”.
She embraces the Latin dictum primum non nocere (first do no harm) and prefers nourishment and gentle detoxification modalities to support the body and restore balance – simple concepts rooted in a deep appreciation for the complex interdependent biological systems that collectively comprise the human body. She walks the walk with an open mind and expects her patients to play an active role in their own self-care, knowing that we all have to “start where we are”.
She has served as the Medical Director of The BioMed Center New England and lives in New England with her husband, whom she met during graduate school. Most of the rest of her family still lives in Montana where she was born and raised and attended Montana State University.
Websites
Article
For Love of Oxygen
My message...
Be kind...lessen the judgment on yourself and others.
Dr. Heather Tallman Ruhm
Episode Highlights with Dr. Heather
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We have an “anti-approach” to medicine (anti-inflammatory, anti-biotics, etc
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The body is trying to communicate, yet we often frame it negatively
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It is helpful to look at the body as a whole, as patterns of intelligent systems
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We have a patriarchal and fear-based system of medicine
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Homotoxicology – there is a natural sequence of illness, Dr. Reckeweg
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Excretion - a natural way the body tries to eliminate something that does not belong
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Reaction - inflammation, fever, etc.
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Deposition - for safekeeping
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Impregnation - becoming more permanent
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Degeneration - breaking down (often when western medicine will take notice)
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Chinese Medicine overlays many of the pattern
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Step back when something is uncomfortable and view without judgment, with compassion
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Ask what is the opportunity in this experience
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Upcoming Book working title: Your Health Matters - 8 Underlying Obstacles/Opportunities to better Health
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The underlying causes of all diseases can be viewed as opportunities
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Studying Autism reveals the same 8 causes as adult illnesses
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Lack of symptoms can indicate the body does not have the resources to respond
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Our challenges we face are opportunities to make ourselves more robust
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A - Awareness - If we don't have awareness, we cannot connect what is happening
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B - Biome/Bugs - If the biome is not balanced we cannot stay healthy
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C - Chemicals - The manmade consequence of better living through chemistry
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D - Deficiency - Lack of nutrients, support, love, sleep etc.
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E - Energy/EMF's - Can be viewed in many different realms
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F - Food - Proper nutrients
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G - Gravity of trauma - Perceived lack of control (physical, spiritual, or emotional)
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H - Heavy metals - Have a profound negative impact on health
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o Be kind to yourself.
o William Sloane Coffin once wrote: "Hell is the truth seen too late."
o Lessen the judgment to ourselves and others
o Practicing medicine at the New Hampshire Health and Wellness Center
o Medical Director for Epidemic Answers Documenting Hope Project which features two IRB-approved research studies:
Links & Resources Mentioned
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The CHIRP™ Study [Child Health Inventory for Resilience and Prevention, WIRB Protocol #20173049] is the most comprehensive pediatric survey of children’s health, growth and development in the context of the modern world – a place with innumerable toxic and unhealthy influences. This study seeks to better understand the impact of the totality of modern living on children’s health. Our preliminary data analysis is pointing to findings that have profound implications for our kids’ health and development.
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The FLIGHT™ Study [Facilitated Longitudinal Intensive Investigation of Genuine Health Transformation -WIRB Protocol # 20200327] is the first-of-its-kind prospective, longitudinal study that closely examines how children with chronic health conditions improve or even fully recover using a “root causes,” bio-regulatory systems, and collaborative, integrative approach. The FLIGHT™ Study builds upon the CHIRP™ Study as a foundation for capturing clinical data over time to test the hypothesis that comprehensive personalized lifestyle interventions will result in symptom abatement, improved health and potentially full disease reversal. The study tracks individual participants through 18 months of lifestyle interventions personalized to their needs. The full study aims to enroll up to 14 children with chronic health or developmental conditions. The study will be filmed and the results shared with the public.
